To better understand fibromyalgia, San Diego medical experts answer some frequently asked questions about the disorder.
WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA?
CHRONIC PAIN - Along with several medications, gentle stretching and meditation have helped Mary Zeigler cope with the fibromyalgia pain and stiffness she experiences daily. CNS Photo by Crissy Pascual.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome or disorder characterized by widespread muscle aches, tenderness, fatigue and sleep disturbances.
"We used to think it was a muscle and ... [full story]

In a land of honking horns, chirping cell phones and drive-through attention spans, there isn't time to be patient.
Pick your poison: consumerism, materialism, self-absorption. Experts say they are each an ingredient in a recipe for perpetual impatience, turning humans into hamsters racing in their wheels, getting nowhere fast.
BE PATIENT - Studies show impatience can be unhealthy, linking it to hypertension, increased anger and elevated stress. CNS Illustration.
Elizabeth Carll, a clinical psychologist in Long ... [full story]

Twenty minutes into the invasion of Iraq, Marine Sgt. Nathaniel Donnelly huddled with his men in the windowless rear of an armored vehicle as it rumbled across the Iraq-Kuwait border.
The roar of artillery pounded in their ears. Anxious officers chattered over the radio.
OVER HERE - Former Marine Sgt. Nathaniel Donnelly (above and left, while serving in Iraq) is now a senior at San Diego State University, where he founded a campus veterans organization. ... [full story]

Frank Gagliardi is a gambler.
Does it for hours at a stretch. For days. Played right through the 9/11 attacks. A former girlfriend says he was so busy at the slots it took him two or three days to notice she had left him.
IT'S A GAMBLE - Gamblers must pay taxes on winnings minus losses. That led to a battle between one man and the IRS about whether he had properly accounted for his ... [full story]

Dear Mr. Berko: We're retired and don't have enough income to meet our living expenses, especially real estate taxes, home insurance costs, food, medical and upkeep, which seems to be increasing every year. Please tell me about a reverse annuity mortgage. Like, what do they cost? Do we have to pay off our current low mortgage? Are they very expensive? What happens to the equity when we pass on? Can we lose our home?And who ... [full story]

Dear Mr. Berko: I want to invest about $14,000 in some high-yielding common stocks and some high-yielding preferred stocks that have been beaten down by the market and I want at least a 13 percent dividend. I'm willing to take a big gamble with this money, which is an unexpected tax refund because we grossly overestimated our income for 2007 on our quarterly payments. We will be investing this money in our "speculative retirement" account. ... [full story]

Dear Mr. Berko: I was looking at the stock pages recently and found Regal Entertainment Group selling at $20.60 and paying a nice $1.20 dividend, which is nearly 6 percent. I just renewed a $7,000 certificate of deposit and got 3.75 percent from my bank. I have a $3,500 CD coming due next month and thought I'd buy 150 shares of Regal because the yield is 6 percent and because during hard economic times more ... [full story]

Tiger Woods is wrong. That's what more than 56,000 people say.
Or maybe they just wanted an all-expenses-paid summer trip to San Diego.
Late last year, Golf Digest asked readers to write an essay about why they thought they could break 100 on the Torrey Pines South Course a week before this June's U.S. Open.
It was Woods who made an off-the-cuff comment last year at Oakmont that the average golfer couldn't best three figures ... [full story]

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - Cross country skiing has been one of those outdoor endeavors I've always wanted to do, but somehow never took the time to pursue.
MAMMOTH SKIING - Ski instructor Dana Taussig shows off California's Mammoth Mountain to students Susie Christensen (middle) and Franny Perez. CNS Photo by Ed Zieralski.
One of my favorite Winter Olympic sports has always been the biathlon. Skiing, carrying a rifle, doing some plinking, what could be better than ... [full story]

On Dec. 14, 2005, Chuck Long answered the phone at his home in Norman, Okla.
A reporter was calling that night from San Diego and asked if Long had received any contact related to the vacant head football coach's position at San Diego State.
"No," Long said. He repeated his answer twice more for clarity.
Less than three days later, he was introduced as the Aztecs' new coach.
In other words, he told a fib ... [full story]